Program in Microbial Immunology

The Program in Microbial Immunology focuses special attention on developing research expertise in pandemic-relevant viral immunology while building on the University of Minnesota’s existing strengths in the field.

Program Goals:

  • Develop research expertise in pandemic-relevant microbial immunology while building on the University of Minnesota’s existing strengths in immunology
  • Develop research programs that are able to quickly characterize immune responses to emerging pathogens, develop animal models of disease and perform mechanistic studies that define correlates of infection control and protection from reinfection. Contribute to vaccine development related research

Recent Publications

  • Dahlvang JD, Dick JK, Sangala JA, Kennedy PR, Pomeroy EJ, Snyder KM, Moushon JM, Thefaine CE, Wu J, Hamilton SE, Felices M, Miller JS, Walcheck B, Webber BR, Moriarity BS, Hart GT. Ablation of SYK kinase from expanded primary human NK cells via CRISPR/Cas9 enhances cytotoxicity and cytokine production. J Immunol. 2023;10(8):1108-1122. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200488 
  • Soerens AG, Künzli M, Quarnstrom CF, Scott MC, Swanson L, Locquiao JJ, Ghoneim HE, Zehn D, Youngblood B, Vezys V, Masopust D. Functional T cells are capable of supernumerary cell division and longevity. Nature 2023;614(7949):762-766. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05626-9
  • Osum KC, Jenkins MK. Toward a general model of CD4+ T cell subset specification and memory cell formation. Immunity 2023;56(3):475-484. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.02.010
  • Rosato PC, Lotfi-Emran S, Joag V, Wijeyesinghe S, Quarnstrom CF, Degefu HN, Nedellec R, Schenkel JM, Beura LK, Hangartner L, Burton DR, Masopust D. Tissue-resident memory T cells trigger rapid exudation and local antibody accumulation. Mucosal Immunol. 2023 Feb;16(1):17-26. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2022.11.004
  • Miller JS, Davis ZB, Helgeson E, Reilly C, Thorkelson A, Anderson J, Lima NS, Jorstad S, Hart GT, Lee JH, Safrit JT, Wong H, Cooley S, Gharu L, Chung H, Soon-Shiong P, Dobrowolski C, Fletcher CV, Karn J, Douek DC, Schacker TW. Safety and virologic impact of the IL-15 superagonist N-803 in people living with HIV: A phase 1 trial. Nat Med. 2022;28(2):392-400. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01651-9
  • Pape KA, Dileepan T, Matchett WE, Ellwood C, Stresemann S, Kabage AJ, Kozysa D, Evert C, Matson M, Lopez S, Krueger PD, Graiziger CT, Vaughn BP, Shmidt E, Rhein J, Schacker TW, Bold TD, Langlois RA, Khoruts A, Jenkins MK. Boosting corrects a memory B cell defect in SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-vaccinated patients with inflammatory bowel disease. JCI Insight. 2022;7(12):e159618. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.159618https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.159618
  • Puskarich MA, Ingraham NE, Merck LH, et al. Efficacy of losartan in hospitalized patients With COVID-19–Induced lung injury: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e222735. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.2735
  • Künzli M, O'Flanagan SD, LaRue M, Talukder P, Dileepan T, Stolley JM, Soerens AG, Quarnstrom CF, Wijeyesinghe S, Ye Y, McPartlan JS, Mitchell JS, Mandl CW, Vile R, Jenkins MK, Ahmed R, Vezys V, Chahal JS, Masopust D. Route of self-amplifying mRNA vaccination modulates the establishment of pulmonary resident memory CD8 and CD4 T cells. Sci Immunol. 2022;7(78):eadd3075. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.add3075
  • Beura LK, Scott MC, Pierson MJ, Joag V, Wijeyesinghe S, Semler MR, Quarnstrom CF, Busman-Sahay K, Estes JD, Hamilton SE, Vezys V, O'Connor DH, Masopust D. Novel Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus Strain Sustains Abundant Exhausted Progenitor CD8 T Cells without Systemic Viremia. J Immunol. 2022;209(9):1691-1702. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200320
  • Barrow F, Revelo XS. The B side of B cells in NAFLD. Hepatology. 2022;76(4):914-916. doi: 10.1002/hep.32481
  • Xu Y, Schrank PR, Williams JW. Macrophage fate mapping. Curr Protoc. 2022;2(6):e456. doi: 10.1002/cpz1.456
  • Dolfi B, Gallerand A, Firulyova MM, Xu Y, Merlin J, Dumont A, Castiglione A, Vaillant N, Quemener S, Gerke H, Stunault MI, Schrank PR, Kim SH, Zhu A, Ding J, Gilleron J, Magnone V, Barbry P, Dombrowicz D, Duranton C, Wakkach A, Blin-Wakkach C, Becher B, Pagnotta S, Argüello RJ, Rantakari P, Chakarov S, Ginhoux F, Zaitsev K, Kim KW, Yvan-Charvet L, Guinamard RR, Williams JW, Ivanov S. Unravelling the sex-specific diversity and functions of adrenal gland macrophages. Cell Rep. 2022;39(11):110949. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110949
  • Patterson, M, Burrack, AL, Schmiechen, ZC, Xu, Y, Firulyova, M, Miller, E, Schrank, P, Zaitsev, K, Williams, J, Stromnes, I. Intertumoral CD4+ T-cells instruct monocyte differentiation in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. J Immunol. 2022;208(1_Supplement):120.09. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.208.Supp.120.09
  • Hong SW, Krueger PD, Osum KC, Dileepan T, Herman A, Mueller DL, Jenkins MK. Immune tolerance of food is mediated by layers of CD4+ T cell dysfunction. Nature 2022;607:762-768. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04916-6
  • Burrack, KS, Harris, M, Dileepan, T, Jenkins, MK, Frosch, A. NK cell-derived IL-10 enhances Plasmodium-specific CD4+ Tfh differentiation and IL-27 production in mice. J Immunol. 2022;208(1_Supplement):165.12. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.208.Supp.165.12
  • Demmer RT, Baumgartner B, Wiggen TD, Ulrich AK, Strickland AJ, Naumchik BM, Bohn B, Walsh S, Smith S, Kline S, Stovitz SD, Yendell S, Beebe TJ, Hedberg C. Identification of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in seroprevalence studies among vaccinated populations. Mayo Clin Proc. 2022;97(4):754-760. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2022.02.002 
  • Ratnapriya S, Braun AR, Cervera Benet H, Carlson D, Ding S, Paulson CN, Mishra N, Sachs JN, Aldrich CC, Finzi A, Herschhorn A. Broad tricyclic ring inhibitors block SARS-CoV-2 spike function required for viral entry. ACS Infect Dis. 2022;8(10):2045-2058. doi: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.1c00658 
  • Sjaastad FV, Huggins MA, Lucas ED, Skon-Hegg C, Swanson W, Martin MD, Salgado OC, Xu J, Pierson M, Dileepan T, Kucaba TA, Hamilton SE, Griffith TS. Reduced T cell priming in microbially experienced "dirty" mice results from limited IL-27 production by XCR1+ dendritic cells. J Immunol. 2022;209(11):2149-2159 doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200324 
  • Wolfe CR, Tomashek KM, Patterson TF, Gomez CA, Marconi VC, Jain MK, Yang OO, Paules CI, Palacios GMR, Grossberg R, Harkins MS, Mularski RA, Erdmann N, Sandkovsky U, Almasri E, Pineda JR, Dretler AW, de Castilla DL, Branche AR, Park PK, Mehta AK, Short WR, McLellan SLF, Kline S, Iovine NM, El Sahly HM, Doernberg SB, Oh MD, Huprikar N, Hohmann E, Kelley CF, Holodniy M, Kim ES, Sweeney DA, Finberg RW, Grimes KA, Maves RC, Ko ER, Engemann JJ, Taylor BS, Ponce PO, Larson L, Melendez DP, Seibert AM, Rouphael NG, Strebe J, Clark JL, Julian KG, de Leon AP, Cardoso A, de Bono S, Atmar RL, Ganesan A, Ferreira JL, Green M, Makowski M, Bonnett T, Beresnev T, Ghazaryan V, Dempsey W, Nayak SU, Dodd LE, Beigel JH, Kalil AC. Baricitinib versus dexamethasone for adults hospitalised with COVID-19 (ACTT-4): a randomised, double-blind, double placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2022;10(9):888-899. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00088-1
  • Wijeyesinghe S, Beura LK, Pierson MJ, Stolley JM, Adam OA, Ruscher R, Steinert EM, Rosato PC, Vezys V, Masopust D. Expansible residence decentralizes immune homeostasis. Nature 2021;592:457-462. doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-03351-3
  • Lofgren SM, Okafor EC, Colette AA, Pastick KA, Skipper CP, Pullen MF, Nicol MR, Bold TD, Bangdiwala AS, Engen NW, Collins LB, Williams DA, Axelrod ML, Thielen BK, Hullsiek KH, Boulware DR, Rajasingham R. Feasibility of SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing in remote outpatient trials. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2021;8(11):ofab506. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab506
  • Krueger PD, Goldberg MF, Hong SW, Osum KC, Langlois RA, Kotov DI, Dileepan T, Jenkins MK. Two sequential activation modules control the differentiation of protective T helper-1 (Th1) cells. Immunity. 2021;54(4):687-701 doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.03.006
  • Dileepan T, Malhotra D, Kotov DI, Kolawole EM, Krueger PD, Evavold BD, Jenkins MK. MHC class II tetramers engineered for enhanced binding to CD4 improve detection of antigen-specific T cells. Nat Biotechnol. 2021;39(8):943-948. doi: 10.1038/s41587-021-00893-9
  • Barrow F, Khan S, Wang H, Revelo XS. The emerging role of B cells in the pathogenesis of NAFLD. Hepatology. 2021;74(4):2277-2286. doi: 10.1002/hep.31889
  • Revelo XS, Parthiban P, Chen C, Barrow F, Fredrickson G, Wang H, Yücel D, Herman A, van Berlo JH. Cardiac resident macrophages prevent fibrosis and stimulate angiogenesis. Circ Res. 2021;129(12):1086-1101. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319737
  • Barrow F, Khan S, Fredrickson G, Wang H, Dietsche K, Parthiban P, Robert S, Kaiser T, Winer S, Herman A, Adeyi O, Mouzaki M, Khoruts A, Hogquist KA, Staley C, Winer DA, Revelo XS. Microbiota-driven activation of intrahepatic B cells aggravates NASH through innate and adaptive signaling. Hepatology. 2021 Aug;74(2):704-722. doi: 10.1002/hep.31755
  • Patterson MT, Williams JW. Metabolic regulation of macrophage proliferation and function in atherosclerosis. Curr Opin Lipidol. 2021;32(5):293-300. doi: 10.1097/MOL.0000000000000778
  • Huseby Kelcher AM, Baehr CA, Hamid FA, Hart GT, Pravetoni M. Contribution of antibody-mediated effector functions to the mechanism of efficacy of vaccines for opioid use disorders. J Immunol. 2021;207(3):860-867. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2100204